Abstract:
This paper investigates the effects of climate-related factors (rainfall, temperature, floods, and droughts) on living
standards through human development and its dimensions (life expectancy at birth, mean and expected years of
schooling) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region characterized by lower economic and human development. The data
used span from 1996 to 2015. The findings suggest that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between human
development and rainfall in non-Sahel countries. Temperature influences positively human development in non-Sahel
countries, while a U-shape effect is found for Sahel countries. Droughts affect positively human development in Sahel
countries. For the life expectancy at birth, there is an inverted U-shape association with rainfall in SSA countries.
Floods influence positively the life expectancy at birth in non-Sahel countries, and droughts affect it positively in Sahel
countries. Moreover, the findings indicate that in Sahel countries rainfall and temperature have an inverted U-shape
and a U-shape effect on the expected years of schooling, respectively. Furthermore, floods affect positively the
expected years of schooling in Sahel countries.